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After 'Sopranos,' Little Steven Tries Games

by Tom Samiljan on July 11, 2007 at 07:01 PM




Steven Van Zandt, also known as "Little Steven" for his work with Bruce Springsteen's various bands (and, most recently, as Tony's right-hand man "Silvio" on The Sopranos) is getting into video games. Well, music-related video games. The musician-cum-actor-cum-video-game-consultant is chairman of the music committee that's overseeing the tracks to be featured on Rock Band, a highly-anticipated multiple-instrument take on Guitar Hero. In the game, up to five players take up video game controllers in the shape of musical instruments (guitars, bass, drums) and press buttons and sing in time with symbols onscreen (much like Guitar Hero and other music games).

Van Zandt spoke at the E3 press conference for Electronic Arts (EA), the gaming giant that's publishing the title. He also announced some of the tracks and bands that would be featured, all categorized by decade: Black Sabbath, The Who, David Bowie, and the Ramones (the '70s); Rush and Bon Jovi (the '80s); and Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Foo Fighters (the '90s).

The game's developer, Harmonix, also announced that new music will be released for download online each week after the game is launched this Fall. The company is going after the music business aggressively, and the music business seems to be responding by offering up an unprecedented number and variety of titles. Besides singles, music on Rock Band will also be released in the form of full albums--in fact, the 'Who's Next' by The Who will be the debut full album release. And Metallica will be offering up its entire catalog.

For a detailed hands-on, check out Joystiq's pre-E3 look at the game.

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Tags: breaking+news, E3, Music Games, MusicGames, Rock Band, RockBand, top

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